What are Shopping Cards on Youtube?

Google is playing in on the popularity of videos with the new function “TrueView for shopping”, with which it is possible to advertise through a separate action bar that can be shown by videos on YouTube and provide visitors and viewers with the opportunity to for example buy a product.

Example of Shopping Cards
Example of Shopping Cards

Because 50% of views on YouTube currently originates from mobile devices, Google has optimized this service for mobile. The service integrates the technique of Google shopping and is based on the old card system that was previously as a replacement for the old system. The TrueView cards are displayed over the video and can display both text and images.

This system is comparable to Dynamic Remarketing for Shopping.

Why employ Shopping Cards for YouTube?

Thanks to TrueView shopping you will now be able to offer products and services that are related to the content of the videos and thereby appeal to the interests of the visitors and viewers. Contrary to standard advertisements, you don’t pay for random impressions but only if the viewer chooses to watch your advertisement. This lessens the chance that someone might not have even paid attention to your advertisement.

There are a lot of channels and videos on YouTube which are about certain products. For example make-up reviews, furniture, DIY products, cameras etc. If a certain product is used in a video, it is possible to display the same product next to the video.

Below we see direct shopping results within a YouTube video about a Sony camera. If someone is interested in a product and searches for information about it on YouTube, you can directly approach this person through a Shopping advertisement.

Example of Shopping Cards

What does Shopping Cards for YouTube yield?

TrueView is already being used by many companies for shopping and has been able to realize enormous growth for many.

Wayfair, an American furniture company, has been using the service in order to reach new customers and thanks to this has realized impressive numbers! They managed to generate 3 times more revenue using this shopping method as opposed to similar campaigns in the past using the standard advertisement methods.

Case Study: Wayfair and Sephora
Case Study: Wayfair and Sephora

Another example of the positive effects are the results that the company Sephora, a big retailer with more than 1900 shops worldwide, was able to reach with the use of TrueView. By playing in on the popularity of make-up related videos on YouTube, the percentage of people that opened and watched advertisements rose with 54% and the average time spent watching was over 2 minutes. [case study]

What is needed to start with Shopping Cards

For Shopping Cards you’ll need to have a Google Shopping campaign.

It is also wise to give a few YouTube channels at which you think your target audience is located.